We had a bit of a discussion around it, but I figured that 6 years warranted the prefix, and it's easier to remember in the sea of new acronyms popping up everyday.
Besides, PostModernBERT will be there for us for the next generational jump.
ERNIE is probably the most famous "computer" in the UK, which has been picking winners for the UK's premium bonds scheme since the 1950s. It was heavily marketed, to get the public used to the new-fangled idea of electronics, and is sometimes considered one of the first computers; though (a) it was more of a special-purpose random number generator rather than a computer, and (b) it descended from the earlier Colossus code-breaking machines of World War II (though the latter's existence was kept secret for decades). The latest ERNIE is version 5, which uses quantum effects to generate its random numbers (earlier versions used electrical and thermal noise).
I never liked the names BERT and its derivatives. Of all the names on the world, they chose words that are ugly, specific to one culture, and frankly childish.
Sesame Street has been broadcast in 140 countries; Bert (and Ernie) have been localized to 18 languages, including Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Hebrew and Chinese, with China having an AI called ERNIE because of course.
Or to make an overly worded / researched reply to a petulant comment short, they are very much not specific to one culture.